Just Friends?
by IheartRonaldWeasley
Summary: Rachel and Finn have been friends for years, but Rachel has been secretly hiding her true feelings for years. When Finn fails to realize this and tries to get her to help him get together with someone else will Rachel tell him her true feelings? Or will she sit by and watch him ride off into the sunset with another girl?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Glee nor do I own it's characters or locations. I'm merely using this background as a way to tell my story. **

**Just Friends?**

It was the beginning of the summer after Rachel's senior year of high school. She was looking forward to what the years ahead had for her, but sad to leave a lot of things behind her. She would miss her carefree nature that comes with not having a lot of responsibility in her young life. She would miss high school and the glee club, she loved it so much. It had changed her and made her into the woman she had become. And she'd miss her friends most of all. They were all going in so many different directions it was going to be hard to keep up with each other. But, there was one friend she'd miss most of all. Finn.

Finn and Rachel had become best friends when they were 14. Sitting next to each other on a bus ride bonding over a shared experience that week on a trip with a local humanitarian organization. They grew so close on that long bus trip laughing and sharing jokes with each other. Over the years their friendship continually grew. He was her best guy friend, she was his best girl friend. They told each other everything, went to each other for advice, and joked around about everything. They were always making each other laugh. But, he never knew that her feelings ran deeper than what they appeared to be on the surface. From the moment that they were laughing on that bus when they were 14 she has loved him.

Ever since she really met Finn, Rachel hasn't looked at another guy. She's looked, but never really seen a guy as a potential romantic interest. She has always known that she is supposed to be with Finn and that he was supposed to be with her. That was how it always turned out in movies and in the love stories of people she had talked to, right? So even though he might occasionally come to her and say that he thought so and so was really hot today she never let it bother her because she knew one day that they would be together.

The New Directions just got back from a week in Disney World where they had been asked to perform for a special music celebration in the parks. Since a good majority of the glee club had just graduated from high school a short 2 weeks prior to the trip they saw it as one last hoorah for the club as a whole. One big senior trip where they could spend a week together in the happiest place on earth and not have a care in the world about college and scholarship applications and roommates and saying goodbye to each other. They were like little kids in a candy shop all week long. So many laughs and squeals of joy were heard. Rachel was so sad when they got back to the school at the end of the week and everyone's parents were there to pick them up. She was glad to see her Dads, but leaving her friends in that parking lot was one of the saddest moments she had ever experienced.

Two days after arriving back in Lima Rachel was so excited to receive a phone call from Finn asking her to meet him at Breadstix for dinner so they could just hang out. "I also have something I want to talk to you about" he said. Rachel agreed to meet him and was so excited, as she always was to hang out with him. It had been far too long since the two of them had hung out.

Rachel drove to Breadstix and met Finn in the parking lot. She laughed as he pointed to his shirt and which was one he had bought in Disney World. Mickey Mouse's face was plastered across his back. They got to their booth and talked about how much fun they had had on their trip and the memories that they had made. "I would give anything to hear Aerosmith blasting in my ears one more time on Rockin' Rollercoaster!" Finn said and Rachel giggled.

After they had finished eating Finn leaned forward on the table and said, "Ok, there's something I want to talk to you about."

"Alright," Rachel said. "Shoot."

Finn let out a slow breath, "Well...I'm not ever good at these type of things..."

"It's ok Finn, it's just me" Rachel said.

"Ok, well...you know how last year when we went to Nationals in New York and I kinda started a thing with a girl from Missouri and it didn't last long because we were long distance and everything? Well, I guess I'm just getting a track record for developing feelings for girls when we're on a trip or something. I just I don't know...I spent a lot of time with this one girl last week while we were in Florida and...well..." Finn continued to speak.

Rachel sat there with a smile on her face listening to him talk "_It's me!" _she thought. "_It's finally happening. We're going to finally get together."_

"I mean..." Finn continued "We've always been friends so it was weird to me at first when I started to have feelings for her..."

Rachel was getting really excited "_This is it!"_

"Do you know who I'm talking about?" he asked.

"No..." She replied, trying to feign innocence and play dumb.

"Well...It's Quinn" Finn said. "Since you two are friends I was hoping you could help me ask her out."

Rachel's heart plummeted to the very bottom pit of her stomach. She felt like she was going to puke up all of the Italian food and endless breadsticks she had been eating for the past hour. How could this be happening? He was her best friend! How could he not be talking about her? They had spent so much time together in Disney World! Well, except for when he road the Haunted Mansion with Quinn...and when he went and grabbed a bite to eat with Quinn when the rest of the group rode Tower of Terror...and when they rode on the bus home together for a few hours...and...Oh gosh! She let him fall in love with Quinn and didn't even realize it! What was she supposed to do now? She knew it was a mistake to be ride buddies with Puck on too many rides! Why was she so stupid! If she had just let Finn ride all those rides with her this whole evening could have gone so differently! So what could she do now?

"Yeah of course I can Finn." She half smiled, trying not to show the pain she was feeling inside.

"You are such a great friend." Finn smiled and reached for another breadstick.

"Yeah..." Rachel said, her smile faltering as she blinked back tears. _"I'm a great friend...That's all I'll ever be."_

**A/N: Here's to the start of a new FF! Just a word of warning, given the fact that this story is based on reality some of the traits of these characters will not follow those of the characters in the show. This is my first time writing "Glee" FF, so please be easy on me. This whole story is just a therapeutic form of coping for me from an experience that I had several years ago and "Glee" was the most believable/easy platform to write this on. Hope you enjoy! More chapters will come soon! Leave me a review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, as her luck would have it, Rachel was supposed to hang out with Quinn. She usually loved spending time with her friend, but given the events of her dinner last night with Finn, she didn't really want to be around Quinn today. It wasn't her fault. Quinn didn't know that Rachel had feelings for Finn. Rachel hadn't really told anyone. Well, except for Kurt and swore up and down to never say anything to Finn or anyone else. Kurt was trustworthy like that. She knew he hadn't spilled the beans to anyone.

As Rachel left her house to go pick up Quinn for a quick trip to the mall she saw a text message from Kurt that read:

_"Finn just said that you were helping him with Quinn?! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!"_

Rachel threw her phone onto her passenger seat and pulled out of her driveway. This was not the moment to be chewed out by Kurt. She wasn't even going to mention Finn today while she was with Quinn if she could help it. He didn't have to know that she wasn't actually going to say anything. She could always just say that Quinn was thinking about getting back with Sam and leave it at that. Finn would move on...he was always interested in a different girl every other week so it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

Rachel had convinced herself that it would all be fine and she had nothing to fret about when she pulled up to the Fabray's house. She honked her horn and waited as Quinn came waltzing out of her front door. Was it just her or did Quinn have a little bit more of a bounce in her step today? Rachel had always envied her. She had that beautiful golden hair that was always fixed absolutely perfect, she was the captain of the Cheerios every year, had guys following her around like little lost puppies everywhere she went, was always dressed so cute, and everyone wanted to be her friend. She was everything Rachel wanted to be. Rachel had always been happy in her own skin and had never complained once about her appearance or anything, but when she was with Quinn she always felt like she was standing in her shadow.

"Hey!" Quinn said as she climbed into the passenger seat. "Have you recovered from Florida?"

Rachel smiled, "Yeah, I think so. My feet have never hurt so bad in my life though! I almost needed a vacation from our vacation. It's funny how you can be at the happiest place on earth and be experiencing so much pain!"

"I know! It's crazy how painful it was from being on your feet for so long every day!" Quinn laughed. They spent the rest of their drive to the mall laughing and talking about all of their memories from their trip. Quinn and Rachel always had an easy banter back and forth. Once Quinn got in the car and they started Rachel was able to forget all about Finn and his request. She was just enjoying her time with her friend.

After they had done some shopping they decided to stop in the food court for lunch. After they both got their food and sat down for a while their conversation drifted back to the trip.

"Last week was so fun." Rachel said.

"It really was..." Quinn smiled and dropped her eyes, "There's somthing I needed to talk to you about. Last week I'm sure you noticed that I spent a lot of time with Finn..."

Rachel's gaze dropped to the piece of bread that she was slowly ripping to shreds, "Uh...yeah, I noticed."

"Well, I don't know. I guess I just started to really enjoy his company. He's so funny and sweet and downright cheesy at times! He's a great guy."

"The greatest," Rachel said under her breath with a sigh.

"I guess I just want to make sure that there was nothing going on between you two. Please tell me if there is." Quinn pleaded with all sincerity. "I know you guys are close and I would never want to infringe on that. You're my friend Rachel and I would never want to hurt you by pursuing a guy that you're interested in."

Rachel forced a smile and looked back up at Quinn, "Thanks for being so sweet Quinn, but no there's nothing there but friendship." What was she saying? She wanted to rewind and take back everything she had just said. She had just given Quinn full permission to go after Finn the only guy Rachel had ever loved!

Quinn's smile lit up her whole face, "I'm so glad to hear you say that. Because I _really_ like him. A lot."

All Rachel could do was smile at her in return. She was afraid to speak over the lump in her throat. "Do you think that since you guys are such good friends that you could put in a good word for me and maybe kind of see where he's at with this whole thing? I mean I think he enjoyed spending time with me too, but you can never be sure." She asked.

It hurt so bad to see all of this happening right in front of her eyes. She was about to tell her no, that if she liked Finn then she should just do it on her own without any help. Then she saw how happy Quinn looked. If being with each other was what made her two friend the happiest then what more could she ask for? If Quinn was what would make Finn truly happy how could she deny him that? Rachel sighed, "Of course."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the second chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Once this story is completed I will post a playlist of songs that go with this story. Hope to have chapter three up really soon! =)**


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later Rachel was hanging out with Finn. When he called she suggested going to a movie. That way they wouldn't be able to talk and she could avoid the subject of Quinn. After the movie was over they walked out to the parking lot and stood at their cars laughing and talking about their favorite parts of the movie. Rachel and Finn's relationship was so easy together. Why could he not see how much potential they had for a great relationship? Was he really that blind? there was always a huge physical pain in Rachel's chest whenever she thought about him being with someone else. _"But," _she thought, _"If he's not with me at least it could be Quinn. She's so sweet, the only girl that I think who could be worthy of him." _

While she was thinking she missed the question that Finn had asked he. "What?" she asked.

"I said, 'have you talked to Quinn lately?'"

"Oh...We went to the mall the other day" Rachel replied with a shrug of her shoulders as if it was not big deal.

Finn was quiet for a moment. "Well? Did she say anything about me?"

"Um...your name might have come up." She said trying to avoid the questions she knew were coming.

It didn't work. "Well, does she like me or what?"

Rachel looked away and put on her actress face and smiled, "Yeah, I think she does." Inside she felt like she was dying. why was she subjecting herself to this self inflicted torture? All she had to do was tell him no, she didn't want to do it anymore. He could grow up and be a man and ask Quinn out on his own. The thing was, Rachel couldn't help herself. She was hoping htat it would all turn out, that Finn would somehow through the course of this whole thing realize that she was the girl he should be with. However, he was her best friend. How could she deny him what he wanted the most in that moment? All she wanted was for him to be happy and if his happiness hinged on him being with Quinn...then so be it.

Finn smiled so big his eyes squinted. Just like they always do when something makes him super happy. "Wow, thanks Rachel! You're the best!" he hugged her, then got in his white jeep and drove away. Leaving Rachel alone in the parking lot feeling smaller than she'd ever felt in her life.

* * *

That night Rachel sat in bed reading a book. Well, not exactly reading, but staring blankly at the same page for 30 minutes while her mind wandered thinking about Finn. Then her phone beeped telling her she had a text. It was Quinn.

_Rachel! Finn has been texting me for the last hour. We've been talking about EVERYTHING!"_

Rachel grimaced. _"That's great Q! I'm so glad!"_

Just then she got another text. This time from Finn. _"Rach, i'm texting quinn. i relly want 2 let her no im interested but i dont no how"_

Rachel smiled despite the huge sadness that just settled over her from his text. His texting language and grammer mistakes always made her laugh. At least he tries. Then she settled back to the matter at hand. _I could just act like I'm asleep _Rachel thought. She was pretty tempted, but her kindness won out and she texted him back. _"Tell her you were looking at pictures from the trip to Florida and you can't get over how pretty her smile is."_ She read the text a few times trying to make sure she wanted to do this, then she hit the SEND button. Rachel sighed and leaned her head back. "This was a bad idea." She whispered to the empty room. Just a few seconds later she had another text from Quinn.

_"He thinks I have a pretty smile! :)"_

"UGH!" Rachel threw her phone down on her mattress. After a moment of being frustrated with herself she picked it back up and did her good, friendly duties. _"Aww that's sweet" _she texted back.

_"Do you think it was just a meaningless comment? Or is he flirting?"_ Quinn replied.

Rachel let out a slow breath. _"Def. flirting. You should tell him that he's the one that makes you smile like that."_

It wasn't long before she had another text from Finn. _"She said i make her smile! Should i ask her on a date now?"_

Rachel's heart plummeted to the bottom most pit of her stomach, but she replied anyway. _"Yeah! Definitely!"_

_"what does she like 2 do?" _he asked.

_"Well, you can never go wrong with Breadstix and that new rom-com just came out. Ask her to that."_

Again after a few moments she had a text from Quinn, _"HE ASKED ME OUT! AHHHHHHH!"_

Rachel was dying. She so badly wanted to rewind to a few days ago and tell Finn that he could do it without her help. Or just flat out tell hiim that she liked him, but instead she's sitting in her bed experiencing the biggest hurt she's ever dealt with. _"That's great Q!" _she replied.

Rachel then got out of her bed and plugged her phone into her charger, but before she could put it down she got one more text from Finn. _"thx rach! U R 4 real the best friend a guy cld. have!"_

Tears silently falling from her eyes she replied, _"I know..."_

Then she turned and got back in bed and, pulling the covers up over her head, she cried herself to sleep.

**A/N: Sorry the update took so long! Be sure to leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Rachel had spent the last two weeks enduring the constant text updates from Quinn and Finn on their blossoming relationship. The night they shared their first kiss she thought she was going to die. Why was it fair that Quinn who had spent the last few years making out with anything male that moved got to kiss such a special guy when Rachel who was saving her kisses for someone special didn't get to? Finn was a special guy. It should be her kissing g him not Quinn. The most miserable moment, so far, was when she went to the movies with them, thinking it would be a group thing, but it was just the three of them. She spent the entire movie trying desperately to ignore their flirty cuddling and hand holding. It's a good thing the movie was sad, then Rachel could pass her tears for something else. It was the longest two hours of her life.

That night she came home from the movies so exhausted and emotionally drained she went right to bed. Suddenly she was with all of her friends; Kurt, Blaine, Tina, Artie, Brittany, Puck, Sam, Quinn, and Finn. They were in a big, creaky, dark, old building being chased by a big, hulking, masked man trying to kill them. Somehow, Rachel got separated from the group and knew that the man had followed her. She was running down a really long hallway and could hear him walking slowly, like all bad guys do, in pursuit of her. Then she saw the group cross the end of the hallway in front of her. She knew that if she could just make it to them she'd be safe, but she tripped and fell over a rug. When she looked back up she saw Finn running where the group had just been. She could hear the man getting closer each second. "Finn!" She called, "Help me!" Finn turned and looked at her, if he would just come help her she knew she'd be okay. Finn turned back and looked down the other hall to where the group had just run, then back at Rachel, then back at the group. Then shaking his head he ran after the group. "FINN!" She screamed, then felt big hairy arms grab her from behind. Rachel awoke with a jolt, covered in sweat, her sheets and blankets all twisted in a tangled mess. Rubbing her eyes she couldn't get over how real the dream felt and the fact that Finn left her there. She wanted to believe that he wouldn't really do that but she still felt awful.

Shaking her head and taking a few deep breaths Rachel calmed herself down, rolled over, and decided to go back to sleep. When she drifted off she once again found herself in another dream. This time she was with the entire Glee club and Mr. Shu. They were walking through a big open meadow, laughing and singing as they walked along. Suddenly Rachel felt herself get stuck. When she looked down she saw that she was standing in quicksand and sinking fast. Finn had been walking right behind her, she knew that he would help her. "Finn!" She called, but he walked right past her, not even seeing her there. At least he pretended to not see her there. "Finn!" She yelled again, angry this time.

Then Mr. Shu turned around and looking at Finn he said, "Go help her!" With a huffing sound of annoyance Finn turned and roughly grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the suffocating quicksand and hurried back to the group leaving her lying on the ground.

When Rachel woke again she knew she had been calling out in her sleep. She took a few deep breaths, turned on her light and decided to read a book. Sleep was not her friend right now.

**A/N: Sorry again for the long wait for an update. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

"How long have these dreams been going on?" Kurt asked as he sat with Rachel at the coffee shop.

"Four days, four horrible dreams. The other two I haven't told you about. The third dream I had we were all in the choir room and when I went over to say something to Finn he could see right through me like I was invisible. Everyone else could see me but him. When I tried to slap his arm to get his attention there was like an invisible force field around him. I couldn't touch him."

"Weird." Kurt mumbled, taking a sip of his mocha.

"Then," Rachel continued, "the fourth one. I was walking through the mall and I saw him walking up ahead, but when I tried to catch up with him I could never reach him. No matter how fast I walked or ran he always stayed the same distance ahead of me and he was only walking. It freaks me out. I'm afraid to go back to sleep!"

"I can tell." Kurt replied.

"Do you think I should talk to someone about it? I'm afraid you'll start being about to see the dark circles under my eyes." Rachel said.

"Oh, I think someone at a mental facility could help." Kurt chuckled.

Rachel released a huff of frustration. "You're not funny. These dreams really scare me. I've Googled them and it said maybe I'm trying to hold onto something that I'm losing. I don't know..."

Kurt leaned forward and gave her a conspiratorial pat on the hand. "They're just dreams Rachel...that's all. Probably because you go to bed thinking about him. Don't waste your time thinking on it." Kurt looked at his watch, "Speaking of the choir room it's almost time for the random meeting that Mr. Schuester called. Ready to head out?"

"Yeah," Rachel said as she gathered her things. "You'd think we didn't graduate with how often he calls us all back." She laughed.

"Some people just have a hard time letting go." Kurt said and they both laughed.

When they walked into the choir room Rachel was still laughing over something that Mercedes had said in the hallway when she heard an even louder laugh. No...laugh doesn't really describe it correctly. She heard a loud, flirty giggle. Looking up she saw Quinn giggling over something Finn had just whispered in her ear. They were awfully cozy sitting in the back row all handsy with each other. It made Rachel sick to her stomach. Putting on a brave face she went and sat as far away from them as she could, next to Artie in the front. "Does anyone know why Mr. Shu called us all here?" Artie asked.

"Maybe it's a going away party for all of the seniors?" Mercedes offered.

"We already had one of those." Rachel said.

"No, that was a party for you thrown by your dads." Finn said and everyone laughed. Rachel felt a little bit of a pang in her chest. Finn never made comments about her being self centered like the others did. Not until he started dating Quinn. Rachel kept her chin up though and just ignored it, just like she always did when other people made those comments.

Just then Mr. Schuester came in. "Hey guys, glad you all could come back. I have a very exciting announcement to make. We have been given an opportunity to go to an orphanage in New Mexico to teach a music camp. I know a lot of you have a lot of things going on with trying to head to college in a few weeks and everything, but I think this would be a good opportunity for everyone to have one last week together as a Glee club. We can teach these under privileged kids some music like they've never been exposed to. What do you guys think?"

The choir room was filled with a chorus of "Yeah!", "Absolutely!", "Sounds fun!" and they began planning for their trip together. They divided themselves into small groups who would be in charge of different age groups for the music camp. Tina, Mike, and Artie would work with the preschool kids, Kurt, Blaine, and Santana would work with the 1st-3rd graders, Puck, Sam, and Brittany would work with the 4th-6th graders, and Rachel, Finn, and as luck would have it Quinn would work with Mr. Shu with the Jr. High and High School students.

Rachel got really irked with Finn and Quinn pretty quickly as they were going over their ideas for what songs to teach and how to go about it. If Rachel and Quinn ever disagreed on something Finn was quick to jump onto whatever Quinn's side was. Ever since Quinn and Finn started dating Rachel had started to see a new side to Quinn. One she didn't like very much. Quinn had become very possessive and confrontational and quick to claim what was hers. It was almost like she was disagreeing with everything Rachel said on purpose.

When the group dismissed after figuring out their lesson plans Mr. Shu gave them a few packing instructions and they were set to load the buses the next Saturday. Rachel was one of the last to leave the choir room, trying to make sure she had all of her sheet music and notes packed up. As she was walking down the deserted hallway back to the parking lot she heard something down the side hallway. When she turned to look and see what it was, she spotted the silhouette of Quinn and Finn making out against the wall. Rachel felt like she was going to puke. Eyes watering she turned and ran down the hallway before the sob could escape her throat, letting the giggles of Quinn fade as she left them behind her.****

**A/N: Let me know what you think. What did you guys think of "The Quarterback" Finn/Cory tribute last week? I bawled! **


End file.
